Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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AIRPORT OPERATIONS MONITORING SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally related to the field of computerized
monitoring,
data gathering and data processing systems, and, more particularly, to a
computerized
airport/aircraft operations monitoring system that monitors information that
may include
flight information data, gate information data, airport/airline ground support
equipment data
and facilities data in a single integrated system and allows processing of
this data (into
operational and management processes for the betterment of operations,
processes and
services) .
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Managing airport operations is a very complex matter involving many factors.
Coordination of the actions of many people and equipment is required to insure
that flight
operations are conducted in an efficient manner. Additionally, airline
companies are
constantly under tremendous pressure to reduce costs and improve the overall
efficiency of
all airport operations as they relate to aircraft and equipment handling.
Traditionally, airports and/or airlines may employ many separate and
independent
monitoring systems for monitoring airport/aircraft operations. For example, an
airline/airport
may employ a separate system for monitoring flight information, a separate
gate management
system for tracking various aspects associated with the gates where aircraft
are supported and
serviced and at which equipment will load and offload passengers, a separate
baggage
management system for tracking various aspects of the baggage handling system,
a separate
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facilities management system for tracking facility systems such as HVAC,
lighting controls,
people movers and, in some cases, a separate system for tracking
airline/airport ground
operations equipment. The flight information system is generally used to keep
track of the
details of arrival and departure times at the gate(s) (both expected and
actual) of aircraft. The
separate gate management system is used to determine the status of a
particular gate, i. e., is it
occupied or open, and the expected time that the gate will be available for
the next scheduled
aircraft. The system is also used to track the operational condition of the
equipment, it will
show alarm conditions, operation status, hours of operation, i.e., personnel
charged with the
responsibility of managing airport/aircraft operations have to consult all of
these five separate
systems in making various decisions as to what aircraft are routed to which
gates, when such
gates were available and the arrival of the aircraft at the destination
airport.
As indicated above, this is a very complex problem that must take into account
many
interrelated factors. As many frequent travelers know, despite the best
efforts of airline
personnel, there are occasions when such a system breaks down as it relates to
the efficient
delivery of service to the traveling public. The results of such delays are
reflected in planes
having to remain at the gate for unscheduled periods of time on the ground
away from a gate
for extended periods of time until a gate becomes available. Even then, there
may be delays
associated with various support equipment and personnel as it relates to fully
servicing the
aircraft and providing required devices to the passengers. As examples, using
the prior art
systems, delivery of baggage to the traveling public might be delayed or
prevented due to
baggage system outages or unavailability of baggage unloading equipment, food
and
beverage vendors may not be available to restock supplies on the aircraft, and
fuel trucks may
not be available to rapidly refuel the airplane for its next trip.
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As indicated above, the airline industry is under constant pressure to reduce
costs.
For example, on an airplane, an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) supplies electrical
power to the
aircraft and allows the airpacks to cool/or heat the aircraft to insure
passenger comfort. The
APU is a small auxiliary turbine engine on the aircraft, e.g., a rear tail
engine, that is very
expensive to operate, e.g., on the order of approximately $75 per minute for
fuel and
maintenance. Ideally, when a plane arrives at a gate, a ground power unit
(GPU) is promptly
coupled to the airplane, thereby providing a source of electric power for the
entire airplane.
Additionally, a ground-based air conditioning unit, if available, may be used
to air condition
the aircraft. The prior art systems did not provide an effective management
system for
insuring that all such related activities were performed in a coordinated
manner such that
services could be delivered to the traveling public in a timely and cost-
efficient manner.
The present invention is directed to various methods for solving, or at least
reducing
the effects of, some or all of the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to
provide a
basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an
exhaustive
overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical
elements of the inven-
tion or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to
present some concepts in
a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is
discussed later.
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Certain exemplary embodiments can provide an integrated system for monitoring
operations, comprising: at least one data storage device that is operatively
coupled to a
network, said at least one data storage device comprising flight information
data, gate
information data, and ground equipment status data; a controller operatively
coupled to the
network and operable to generate exception data associated with performance of
ground
equipment based on said ground equipment status data, said flight information
data, and
said gate information data; and at least one user interface wherein a user may
access said
flight information data, said gate information data, said ground equipment
status data, and
said exception data.
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide an integrated system for monitoring
operations, comprising: at least one data storage device that is operatively
coupled to a
network, said at least one data storage device comprising flight information
data, gate
information data, gate scheduling data, and ground equipment status data; at
least one user
interface operatively coupled to said network wherein a user may access said
flight
information data, said gate information data, said gate scheduling data, and
said ground
equipment status data; and at least one controller operatively coupled to said
network for
generating a report of exception conditions associated with performance of
ground
equipment within said system based upon at least said flight information data,
said gate
information data, and said ground equipment status data.
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method, comprising: accessing a
single integrated system having access to flight information data, gate
information data,
and ground equipment status data; and monitoring at least one activity
relating to
aircraft/airport operations associated with performance of ground equipment
based upon
information accessed in said single integrated system.
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Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method, comprising: accessing a
single integrated system having access to flight information data, gate
information data, gate
scheduling data, and ground equipment status data; monitoring at least one
activity relating
to aircraft/airport operations associated with performance of ground equipment
based upon
information accessed in said single integrated system; and identifying an
exception
condition based upon said monitoring of said at least one activity.
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method, comprising: accessing a
single integrated system having access to flight information data, gate
information data, gate
scheduling data, and ground equipment status data; monitoring at least one
activity relating
to aircraft/airport operations associated with performance of ground equipment
based upon
information accessed in said single integrated system; and taking at least one
corrective
action based upon said monitoring of said at least one activity.
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method, comprising: accessing a
single integrated system having access to flight information data, gate
information data, and
ground equipment status data; and establishing rules associated with
performance of ground
equipment within said system to identify exception conditions that occur
within said
system.
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method, comprising: accessing a
single integrated system having access to flight information data, gate
information data, gate
scheduling data, and ground equipment status data; establishing rules
associated with
performance of ground equipment within said system to identify exception
conditions that
occur within said system; and taking at least one corrective action based upon
said
indication that an exception condition has occurred.
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Various embodiments of an integrated system for monitoring airline/airport
operations are disclosed. In one further illustrative embodiment, the system
comprises a controller operatively coupled to a network, at least one data
storage device that is operatively coupled to the network, the data storage
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device comprising flight information data and gate information data, and at
least one user
interface wherein a user may access the flight information data and the gate
information data.
Various embodiments of a method of monitoring operations are also disclosed
which comprises, in a further illustrative embodiment, accessing a single
integrated system
having access to flight information data and gate information data and
monitoring at least
one activity relating to aircraft/airport operations based upon information
accessed in the
single integrated system.
In another illustrative embodiment, the method comprises accessing a single
integrated system having access to flight information data, gate information
data and gate
scheduling data, monitoring at least one activity relating to aircraft/airport
operations based
upon information accessed in the single integrated system and taking at least
one corrective
action based upon the monitoring of the at least one activity.
In yet another illustrative embodiment, the method comprises accessing a
single
integrated system having access to flight information data and gate
information data and
establishing rules within the system to identify exception conditions that
occur within the
system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be understood by reference to the following description
taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals
identify like
elements, and in which:
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Figure 1 is a schematic depiction of an illustrative system in accordance with
one
illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an illustrative example of representative types of information
that may be
presented to a user of the system described herein; and
Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting one illustrative example of a rules-based
method that
may be employed with the present invention.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative
forms,
specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings
and are
herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the
description herein of
specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular
forms disclosed,
but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents,
and alternatives
falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest
of
clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this
specification. It will
of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual
embodiment, numerous
implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers'
specific goals,
such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which
will vary
from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such
a develop-
ment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a
routine
undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this
disclosure.
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The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached
figures.
The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have
a meaning
consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled
in the relevant
art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that is
different from the
ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, is
intended to be
implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a
term or phrase
is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning other than that
understood by skilled
artisans, such a special definition will be expressly set forth in the
specification in a defini-
tional manner that directly and unequivocally provides the special definition
for the term or
phrase.
In one illustrative embodiment, the present invention is directed to a fully
integrated
aircraft and airport operations monitoring system 10 that allows cost-
efficient and effective
monitoring of aircraft/airport operations. As indicated in Figure 1, the
system 10 generally
comprises a computer system 12 connected to a network 14 that may be accessed
by a
plurality of users via the schematically depicted user interface devices 22.
The system 10
uses a variety of different types of data, generally indicated by the
reference number 18, in a
single integrated computerized system to efficiently monitor aircraft/airport
operations. In
the illustrative embodiment depicted in Figure 1, the system 10 has access to
flight
information data 18a, gate information data 18b, gate scheduling data 18c,
facility
performance data 18d, equipment maintenance data 1 8e, and other forms of data
generally
indicated by the box 18n. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art
after a complete
reading of the present application, the present invention may employ a vast
variety of
different types of data in performing the activities described herein. Thus,
Figure 1 indicates
a generic data source 18n that is intended to reflect that the types of data
supplied to the
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system 10 may be virtually limitless as long as it provides data useful in
monitoring at least
some aspect of aircraft/airport operations and is tied to streamlining
operations and thus cost
savings relative to aircraft operations. Of course, the present invention is
not limited to use of
data from all of the sources identified in Figure 1. The scope of the present
invention is set
forth in the appended claims.
The system 10 is configured such that it can provide the users with an
effective way
of monitoring aircraft/airport operations. For example, in one illustrative
embodiment, the
system 10 employs standardized Ethernet network protocols (10/100/1000) to
allow efficient
connection to various information systems, database servers and personal
computers
throughout the system 10. In one embodiment, the database servers and other
components of
the system 10 should be off-the-shelf configurations that require no special
hardware
configurations to insure ease of use and reduce the initial capital costs of
implementing the
system 10. The information provided by the system 10 (as described more fully
below) can
be distributed to any communication device, e.g., a personal computer, a
pager, a cell phone,
a BlackberryTm device, email, or any other Web-enable communication device. In
some
cases, the information provided by the system 10 may be password protected.
The system 10
is also scalable in that any practical number of users may access and use the
system 10. The
users may access the network via direct connect to the system 10 or via the
worldwide web
using a virtual private network (VPN) connection or other remote connection
options.
Access to the system 10 by the users will generally be password protected. The
system 10 is capable of allowing users 16 to customize the type of information
they receive
from or access on the system 10. For example, depending upon the
responsibilities of the
user, different types of information may be more valuable to a particular
user. The system 10
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also contains security levels such that particular individuals are only
allowed access to certain
types of information on the system 10. Depending upon the access level of the
individual
user, the user may access any appropriate information on the system 10. In
general, it is
believed that most users will tend to customize the information they desire to
receive on a
normal basis from the system 10. The users are able to access the system 10
(including any
individually customized information) from any computer which has local or wide
area
network access.
The flight information data 18a indicated in Figure 1 may be any type of data
related
to the operation of the aircraft. More specifically, as used herein, the term
"flight information
data" shall be understood to mean information related to the movement,
location, arrival time,
departure time, origination site, destination site, APU status, door status
(open/closed),
aircraft type, flight number, or condition of the aircraft, either actual,
scheduled or predicted.
For example, flight information data 18a may include weather conditions,
flight number,
scheduled departure time, actual departure time, the gate at which the
airplane is parked,
delay times for gate arrivals, gate departures, takeoffs, landings,
anticipated or actual gate
arrival times and anticipated or actual gate push-back times, the duration and
use of the
power unit (APU), such as when the APU was turned off and/or on, etc. Of
course, the
illustrative identified examples of flight information data are provided by
way of example
only and should not be considered a limitation of the present invention.
The gate information data 18b depicted in Figure 1 may also comprise data or
information regarding various items, service and/or equipment associated with
gate
operations. More specifically, the term "gate information data" shall be
understood to mean
information related to all equipment attached or adjacent to the gate used for
cooling/heating
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provisioning of, or providing power to the aircraft when parked at the gate.
In general, the
gate information data 18b may be comprised of data regarding fixed equipment
at the gate
and mobile equipment and services required to perform various activities
associated with
servicing the aircraft for its arrival and departure. For example, the gate
information data 18b
may include information such as whether a gate is occupied or available. The
gate
information data 18b may also include information regarding the capability and
availability
of boarding bridges, ground-based power units (GPUs ¨ e.g., 400 Hz power
units), ground-
based air conditioning systems, potable water, etc. Examples of mobile
equipment and
services that may be included in the gate information data 18b include, but
are not limited to,
the status and availability of cargo loaders, aircraft tractors, deicing
vehicles and systems,
passenger steps, transporters, 400 Hz ground-based mobile power units, mobile
air
conditioning and heating units, ground start units and provisioning equipment.
The system 10 may also access information regarding gate scheduling data, as
indicated in Figure 1. The term "gate scheduling data" shall be understood to
mean data
regarding scheduling aircraft with gates on a planned or actual usage basis.
In general, the
gate scheduling data 18c may include information regarding the availability of
a gate, the size
or type of aircraft one or more available gates can accommodate, the expected
time when a
gate will become available, the operational condition of the gate and
associated equipment,
etc.
As depicted in Figure 1, the system 10 may also access facilities information
data 18d.
As used herein, the term "facilities information data" shall be understood to
mean data
relating to the use, operation or condition of an operational or emergency
condition of all or a
portion of an airport. For example, facilities information data may include
the status of
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various lighting and air conditioning systems within all or a given section of
an airport
terminal. As an example, if it is determined that a particular portion of a
terminal is not being
used, i.e., late at night, the system 10 may be employed to turn off or reduce
light and/or air
conditioning services to such sections, thereby reducing the costs of
operating the terminal.
In other embodiments, the system 10 may be employed to indicate that such
facilities may be
reduced or stopped. The facilities information data could also show if a
security or fire alarm
was going off in any part of the facilities and propose another gate to be
used, thereby
reducing delays and cost.
The system 10 may also access equipment maintenance data 18e, as
illustratively
depicted in Figure 1. As used herein, the "equipment maintenance data" shall
be understood
to mean data relating to the maintenance of equipment (current, historical or
planned) used in
airport operations. For example, the equipment maintenance data 18e may
include
information regarding the maintenance history of various items of equipment
that will be
used to service the aircraft, including, for example, the last time the
equipment was subjected
to a general maintenance procedure, the time until the particular equipment is
scheduled for a
particular maintenance procedure, any notes regarding particular limitations
or use of a
particular piece of equipment, e.g., limited capacity due to a temporary
maintenance problem,
etc. This type of information may allow a user to determine which types of
equipment may
or may not be appropriate for servicing a particular aircraft. For example,
the equipment
maintenance data 18e may include information that indicates that a particular
ground air
conditioning unit is not up to full operational capability, but it can be used
on aircraft that
demand less than full operational capability.
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The system 10 is designed to store information for an extended length of time,
e.g.,
6-12 months, 5-10 years, etc. Such historical data may be useful as it relates
to determining
trends in various monitored activities. The system 10 may be designed to
handle information
regarding any number of flights. For example, the system 10 may be capable of
handling and
monitoring gate information data with respect to 100 gates and flight
information data for
10,000 flights.
The data 18 depicted in Figure 1 may be stored at multiple locations and
accessed by
the system 10 as information is needed. For example, the flight information
data 18a may be
maintained by the companies that operate the aircraft, while the gate
information data 18b
may be maintained on a system at a particular airport terminal. The system 10
is capable of
accessing such data whenever it is needed or desired via the network 14.
The information on the system 10 may be updated by a variety of known
techniques.
For example, supervisors may monitor the status of ground-based equipment and
input its
status, e.g., "busy" or "available," by keystroke entry or a wireless handheld
device or at a
computer terminal positioned at various locations around an airport terminal.
Flight
information data may be updated by the aircraft operating companies on a more
or less
continuous basis. After reading the present application, those skilled in the
art will appreciate
that the information contained within the system 10 may be updated using a
variety of known
techniques.
The present system 10 enables one or more users to monitor desired activities
such
that airport operations may be conducted in a more efficient and cost-
effective manner. The
information may be presented to a user using any desired technique or devices,
e.g., a
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graphical user interface (GUI) 22. The information provided to the user may
include
information such as equipment or gate usage, equipment or gate status,
operational statistics
and operational alarms, etc. Figure 2 depicts a layout of an illustrative
graphical user
interface 22 depicting one illustrative arrangement of exemplary information
from the system
10. As shown therein, the GUI 22 depicts flight information 22a, gate
information 22b, the
status of baggage handling equipment 22c, and the status of ground power
systems 22d.
For example, the flight information 22a may contain information such as flight
number (FL#), departure time (DT) and estimated arrival time (ETA). Although
it is not
depicted, the flight information 22a may also contain information as to actual
arrival time
(AAT), etc. The gate information may indicate the gate number (GT#), the
status (occupied
or open) of the gates, and a code for the size and type of planes the gate may
accommodate
(PL). The baggage handling equipment information 22c may indicate the status
of the
baggage handling equipment at a particular gate (UT). The GUI 22 may also
display
information indicative of the status of ground power units (GPU) as well as
their present
location. Again, any particular user may customize the type of information
that is important
to that particular user. When a single screen presents a user with most if not
all of the
information that may impact various decisions, the decision making process
becomes more
efficient and effective. By having flight information data 18a and gate
information data 18b
integrated into a single system 10, the management of aircraft/airport
operations becomes
much more effective. Although the single screen may display all of the high
level pertinent
information, the system 10 also includes the capability of allowing a user to
investigate, i.e.,
"drill down," into more detailed aspects of the system 10, e.g., non-
operational status, so that
the cause and effect of any problem can be established quickly, efficiently
and effectively.
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Another aspect of the present invention is the capability of the system 10 to
generate
any of a variety of reports for the users. The system 10 may be provided with
certain
standardized reports that are believed to be universally important to all
airline operations,
e.g., gate turnaround time (effect on arrival and departure), baggage handling
times (both
loading and unloading), etc. In general, the present system 10 may also be
configured to
generate customized reports. For example, the present system 10 may be
employed to
generate a report identifying the equipment and personnel involved in the
maintenance of
baggage handling activities when performance falls below acceptable levels,
the system
would also produce exception reports for events that fall out of an pre-
defined criteria. One
of those reports might be to show all the aircraft used on a given day that
ran their APU more
then 10 minutes when parked at the gate Of course, software may need to be
written to
enable the system 10 to generate any non-standardized reports that are not
included as part of
the base system 10.
Another aspect of the present invention that is very useful is the ability to
configure
the system 10 for the reporting of exception conditions or events. An
exception condition
generally refers to a condition or event that is beyond or outside some
preselected allowable
criteria or threshold. For example, based on historical information, an
airline may deem it to
be acceptable if the ground power unit (GPU) is connected to the aircraft
within 3 minutes of
aircraft arrival at the gate. Anything falling outside of this allowable limit
would be indicated
as an exception condition by the system 10. As another example, it may be
deemed
acceptable if all baggage is offloaded from the aircraft within 10 minutes
after the aircraft is
parked at the gate. Anything beyond 10 minutes would be indicated as an
exception
condition. Moreover, the exception conditions themselves may reflect a
priority within
themselves. For example, an exception condition indicating that a ground power
unit has not
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been coupled to a parked aircraft 15 minutes after arrival will be indicated
as a higher priority
as compared to a situation in which the ground power supply was not hooked up
to the
aircraft 7 minutes after arrival. Moreover, priorities may be assigned among
different types
of exception conditions. For example, exception conditions related to baggage
handling may
be given a lower priority relative to exception conditions involving delays in
coupling the
ground power unit (GPU) to the aircraft, or vice versa. These various rules
may be
established based upon various historical operating data and by the desires of
the personnel in
charge of airport and airline operations.
Exception condition reporting involving use of the integrated system 10 with
access to
both flight information data 18a and gate information data 18b will make
management
operations more effective. Once the appropriate rules are established,
management personnel
can react to identified exception conditions highlighted by the system 10. As
long as no
exception conditions are occurring, the system 10 is assumed to be operating
within the
parameters established by the various rules. Once an exception occurs, the
system 10 can
indicate that the exception has occurred and notify the appropriate personnel.
This exception
notification can take many forms, e.g., an alarm, flashing data on a user's
graphical user
interface 22, a text message to a cell phone or pager, or any combination of
those items listed
above. Once the exception condition is identified, personnel may take
appropriate corrective
action to eliminate the exception condition and return the system 10 to normal
operating
conditions.
Rules may also be provided in the system software for notifying various levels
of
management of the exception conditions depending upon the number, type and/or
severity of
the exception conditions. If a great number of exception conditions are
occurring, or if they
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are significant in terms of magnitude, or if they are of critical importance,
the system 10 may
issue an exception condition notification to the very highest level executives
by way of email
and/or a text message to the executive's cell phone.
The system 10 may also be provided with the capability to temporarily change
or
modify the various exception rules established for the system 10. For example,
in extremely
bad weather, e.g., a rain storm or snow storm, it is very likely that delays
will naturally occur.
In that situation, the rules may be modified such that the acceptable time for
coupling a
ground power unit to the aircraft may be deemed acceptable if it occurs within
6 minutes
instead of 3 minutes. The point being that the system 10 is flexible enough to
provide airport
operational personnel with meaningful data even in times when there will be
uncontrollable
delays throughout the system 10. Of course, personnel that have the authority
to modify the
rules established for the system 10 may be limited to a very small group.
Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting another illustrative rule or algorithm that
the system
10 may employ. The algorithm or rule depicted in Figure 3 may be performed by
the system
10 automatically, or it may be the result of a manual request by a user of the
system 10. In
box 30, the system 10 receives a gate assignment request for flight number
100. Based on the
flight information data 18a, the system 10 knows all of the necessary
information regarding
flight 100, e.g., that flight 100 is a Boeing 767 aircraft with 250 passengers
on board, etc. In
box 32, the system 10, having access to gate information data 18b, identifies
all gates that are
physically capable of handling such an aircraft. In box 34, based upon the
gate information
data 18b, the system identifies which of the capable gates identified in box
32 are not
occupied, i.e., it identifies the gates that are ready to accept an aircraft.
As indicated in box
36, the identified gates resulting from box 34 are output in response to the
gate request. If the
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situation arises where there are no capable gates (box 32) that are not
occupied (box 34), the
system 10 may then indicate which of the capable gates identified in box 32
are expected to
become available, and the estimated time when such gates will be available, as
indicated in
box 38. Of course, this is a relatively simple example of the manner in which
the integrated
system 10, having access to both flight information data 18a and gate
information data 18b,
may be employed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of airport
operations. After
reading the present application, those skilled in the art will appreciate that
many automated
rules can be written to facilitate decision making as it relates to managing
airport operations.
In one illustrative embodiment, a system for monitoring aircraft/airport
operations is
disclosed which comprises a controller operatively coupled to a network, a
data storage
device comprising flight information data that is operatively coupled to the
network, a data
storage device comprising gate information data that is operatively coupled to
the network
and at least one user interface wherein a user may access the flight
information data and the
gate information data.
A method of monitoring aircraft/airport operations is also disclosed which
comprises,
in one illustrative embodiment, accessing a single integrated system having
access to flight
information data and gate information data and monitoring at least one
activity relating to
airport operations based upon information accessed in the single integrated
system.
The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the
invention
may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to
those skilled
in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. For example, the
process steps set forth
above may be performed in a different order. Furthermore, no limitations are
intended to the
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CA 02569388 2006-11-30
2065.004600
03-12918
details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the
claims below. It
is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be
altered or modi-
fied and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the
invention.
Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.
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